Shield for closet-hoppers.



W. L. BASS.

3 SHIELD FOR CLOSET HOPPERS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 23. I915.

1,21 8,922. Patented Mar. 13, 1917.

WILLIAM LOUIS BASS, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

SHIELD FOR CLOSET-HOPPERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 13, 1917.

Application filed March 23, 1915. Serial No. 16,394.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that Ll/VILLIAM LOUIS BAss,a citiz n of the United States,residing at lVashington,in the District of Columbia, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Shields for Closet-Hoppers; and Ido declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates broadly to improve-- ments in. toilet appliancesand more particularly to closets, the object of the invention being toprovide a shield movable to a point in advance of the upper front end ofthe hopper of the closet simultaneously with lowering of the seat ringto active position, thereby preventing soiling of clothing by contactwith the front of said hopper, the latter often becoming soiled when thecloset is being used as a urinal.

With this object in view, the invention resides in certain novelfeatures of construction and combination hereinafter described andclaimed. In describing the invention, I shall refer to the accompanyingdrawing wherein like reference characters designate the same partsthroughout the several views and wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a closet hopper or bowl showing theapplication of one form of the invention thereto;

' Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the shield detached from the closet;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 illustrating a different from ofconstruction;

Fig. 4- is a top plan view with parts broken away, showing the featuresdisclosed in Fig. 3; and,

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the type of shield shown in Figs. 3andd.

In this drawing constituting a part of the application, I-I denotes thehopper or bowl of a water closet to the upper end of which the usualseat ring R and cover C are hinged. As is well known, when the hopper isbeingused as a urinal thering and cover 0 are both swung upwardly, thesidesof the hopper H being often soiled by the persons using the samefor this purpose. This is particularly true of the upper end of thefront of the hopper, thus causing the clothes of a person using thecloset for other purposes to become soiled by contact with the aforesaidportion thereof. In order to overcome this most undesirable feature, Ihave provided the subject matter constituting the gist of the presentinvention, two forms of the device being shown in the drawing.

In Figs. 1 and 2 an upright shield l is shown in the form of a thinplate of metal or the like curved horizontally or t'ansversely of thehopper to conform to the curvature of the front end of the hopper, theupper edge of the shield or plate 1 being provided with a plurality ofV-shaped notches 2 which are spaced appropriate dis tances from eachother to allow the intervening portions of the plate to be bentlaterally thus providing a plurality of horizontally disposed flanges 3which constitute means for attaching the shield 1 to the projectingforward edge of the ring R. In so attaching the shield, the flanges 3are disposed in contact with the under side of the ring R and screws orthe like at are passed through said flanges and into the ring, thussecuring the shield 1 in an upright position and disposing the same directly in advance of the upper end of the hopper H. lNhen the ring R islowered, it will thus be evident that should this por tion of the hopperbe soiled from any cause, the shield 1 will prevent the clothes of aperson using the same from becoming stained or soiled from contacttherewith.

In the form of the invention seen in Figs. 3, 4, and 5 the shield 1 iscarried by the front curved ends 5 of a pair of levers 6, whose rearends are pivoted at 7 to a pair of rearwardly extending links 8 havingslots 9 in their rear ends, the aforesaid levers 6 being fulcrumed neartheirrear ends upon upright standards 10 rising adjacent the sides ofthe hopper. The slots 9 in the links 8 rece ve studs 11 projectinglaterally from the rear ends of rigid arms 12 which are secured to andextend rearwardly from the seat ring R WVhen this ring is disposed toits lowermost position as shown in full lines in Fig. 3, the studs 11travelto the outer ends of the slots 9 and thus pull rearwardly upon thepivots 7, thereby disposing the levers 5 to the substantially horizontalposition shown in full lines in'Fig. 3. This positioning of the levers 5raises the shield 1 to a point in advance of the upper end of the hopperH, thus accomplishing the same result as that attained by the structurepreviously described. When, however, the cover C and the ring R areraised for obvious reasons, the rigid arms 12 are of course swungdownwardly to the dotted line position seen in Fig. 3, whereupon theweighted forward ends of the levers 5 are dropped, during which movementthe links 8 may move independently of the arms 12, this be ing due tothe provision of the slots 9.

Upon careful consideration of the accompanying drawings, and perusal ofthe pre ceding description, the construction and operation of theinvention will be readily un derstood without requiring a more extendedexolanation. Furthermore, it will be evident that although extremelysimple construction has been provided for accomplisl ing the desiredend, the same will be eilicicnt in operation and will be a verydesirable attachment for practically any closet hopper, whether it beembodied in the form shown in Fig. 1, in that shown in Figs. 3 and l, orin other ways falling within the scope of the invention.

I claim:

The combination of a sanitary closet bowl having its entire frontexposed, a seat ring mounted above the bowl for movement toward and fromthe same, said bowl being adapted for use as a urinal when the seat ringis raised and being thus exposed and prone to become soiled, and aretractable shield plate controlled by the movement of. the seat ringand automatically positioned vertically in advance of said bowl whensaid seat ring is lowered for use, said plate being curved in horizontalsection to conform substantially to the curvature of the bowl front andbeing of a size to cover the upper half of said front to shield theusers clothes from contact with this portion of the bowl, the front faceof said plate being smooth and tree of projections to prevent articlesof clothing from being caught, and torn thereby.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

lVILLIAM LOUIS BASS.

itnesses J. A. GRIESBAUER, (l. (iiIOVANNE'lTI.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. r

